Rolex Bandit Escapes Life By Pleading Guilty To 6 Felonies

A man known to local law enforcement as the Rolex Bandit received a 12 1/2-year prison sentence Tuesday after pleading guilty to six felonies.

Darryll Capers' plea spared him a possible life sentence.

Beginning in 1998, Capers, now 38, and his accomplice, Rodney Jackson, targeted women driving fancy cars and wearing diamonds and Rolex watches. Prosecutor Jim Martz said the men's strategy for committing their crime allowed them to evade apprehension for years.

Capers and Jackson approached their victims from behind so they couldn't be identified. The men threatened to shoot if victims failed to relinquish their jewelry. After getting the loot, Capers and Jackson instructed their victims to count to a certain number as the men fled, letting them get away without being identified.

"It's a plan that worked well to conceal their identities," Martz said. "I think they just got lucky for a really long time."

Their luck ran out when authorities nabbed Jackson in 2001 when he was arrested for an armored-truck heist. DNA linked Jackson to a glove torn off during a struggle with a victim.

Though Jackson identified Capers as his accomplice, Capers remained at large until last year, when an anonymous tipster told Palm Beach County sheriff's detectives that Capers had been hiding out in Alabama. Capers was found in an Alabama jail, booked under an alias on a charge of driving a stolen car.

Jackson, who previously pleaded guilty to similar crimes, received a 15-year prison term, though Martz said Jackson likely would receive some leniency for his cooperation.

Missy Stoddard can be reached at mstoddard@sun-sentinel.com or 561-832-2895.